Endless
by Bored Konoha Kunoichi
Summary: one-shot.Team7 final moment.Implied SasuSaku. He stabbed her right through with his sword...but did she have an inkling of how her words pierced him? No, because it's reality- IRONY.But maybe one day, she'll realize...because their story is never-ending.


**A/N:** ...I feel dead. Literally. Was in Boston all last week, (yes, a whole week WITHOUT FANFICTION!!! T.T) then came back...some pplz from skewl didn't even notice I was gone, (TRAITORS!! AND THEY CALL THEMSELVES FRIENDS!! j/k) and only mountains of homework after another "happily" greeted me...0o;;

But ya know, since I stated in my profile that my internet's finally back, so I'll be more "active"- had to write _something_. So came up with something for team 7. Implied SasuSaku- you just gotta look REAL careful...

sorry to those who've already read, got accidentally deleted by a friend..who apparentlly thought it was funny...T.T so yeah, it's up again XD

**Disclaimor: **I do NOT own Naruto- I am a **Korean **_GIRL_, not a Japanese guy with amazing artistic talents...yup. (But if I DID own it, then it would lose over half the fans due to intense SasuSaku make-out scenes in every chapter XP)(trust me, I WOULD do it if I could..lol)

**Warning: **Some violence- though not so gory, and juuuust a _little bit_ of swearing...not much. Still, if you think you're too young r smthng, go read a K or K+ or something, kiddies..

I am NOT American, and self-edit does not work so well...T.T so except some grammer/spelling mistakes...

* * *

Sakura breathed heavily as she lay helplessly and defeated on the ground. Bits of ashes flying tickled her exposed skin, and the spoiled soil under her seemed to suck her life by the minute. She slightly opened a bruised eye and observed her surroundings. 

Devastated. Destroyed.

That's what the area currently was. The once lush forest was now a left with a bare clearing. Most of the trees were burnt down, and the earth was cracked and covered with craters. All that remained were traces of gray smoke and black ashes- the place was completely annihilated…by _**him**_ _And so were their hearts._

_No…no…This wasn't supposed to happen, _she thought as warm liquid trickled down her cheeks. She could taste its saltiness as a streak entered her mouth.

_Damn it, _she cursed at her weak state. _I'm not supposed to cry…I can't. I'm NOT weak…that's why I trained…right? I should be stronger, I shouldn't be on the ground right now, this is the moment when I need to be strong…were those years spent in training a waste?_

This only made her feel more pathetic than ever.

Sakura made an endeavor to heal the gush on her stomach. If she lost more blood, she would pass out and eventually die. She squinted, trying to concentrate. Green chakra flickered for a moment, then disappeared. Exhaustion took over her and she let her arms fall limply to her side.

A deep, frustrated sigh escaped her lips. Was she going to die now, just like the rest of the rookie 9 and Team Gai? God, Konoha, no, _**she**_ knew that this war was going to happen…and she thought they were ready. _Guess we were far from ready, _she thought bitterly seeing that her home was currently being destroyed by Sound-nins and her friends were already all dead- except for one, that is.

She closed her eyes and let her imagination replace reality. Yes, because reality wasn't the way she wanted it to be- it never was.

She let the scene created by her mind play.

_She had just returned from a long mission, and had stepped into Ichiraku ramen stand. She was instantly greeted into a tight hug by her blonde friend._

"_Sakura-chan!" Naruto chirped gleefully, and beside him, the Sasuke merely grunted, acknowledging her presence._

_She smiled tiredly, sat between the two and proceeded to order her steaming ramen, and-_

"Pathetic as ever, Naruto." A husky voice snapped her out of her fantasy.

More tears fell as Sakura painfully turned her head to the direction of the voice. Not so far from her, a mass of orange and red was sprawled on the floor, with a shadow looming over its form.

_Naruto! _She shut her eyes tight. My god, she did not want to see Naruto like this. He was her support, a protective brother, the person that kept her hopes up and going. She couldn't bear to see him all beat up.

Another thing she didn't want to see was _him- Uchiha Sasuke_. Her old teammate, her love, the traitor- _the one who started this war._ And hell, how she loathed him for that. _But she still cared for him, too._

"Thought you'd be more of a challenge than the others…" the voice made her shudder. How could a person speak so monotonously?

"Guess I overestimated you…it's a wonder how you're still alive," he continued, "with that you call "skill" and your loudness, you should have been long dead."

Sakura clenched her fist in both anger and sadness. _Damn, Naruto is hurt, and I'm by his side to heal or assist him, because I'm not strong enough to be! _

The idea of her weakness made her furious. But the fact that _Sasuke_ had caused the entire catastrophe pained her to no end. Naruto and her once teammate and best friend was now invading his- no, _their_ village, and was slaughtering his acquaintances. And that it was _him_ that had just said those words- _you should've been long dead._

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw Naruto stir a bit and turn to face Sasuke.

"No…you're wrong…I won't die easily, and you know that, teme…" he gave a slight grin, "not with a village and friends to protect,"

Naruto coughed up some more blood and his head fell to the side once again.

Sasuke's lips curved into a frown and he looked unconvinced, and remained his posture of looking down towards Naruto.

_God, no, Naruto…don't talk back, he'll KILL you! _Sakura thought, but no words came out of her lips.

"But that won't matter…seeing as I'll end it now," Sasuke simply stated.

Sakura froze, and bit her lip. She had never thought Sasuke would actually intend to _kill_ Naruto- but it was obvious that he was not joking.

"Naruto...run…" she whispered out, only to be swallowed up by a coming breeze. But she knew that even if it was heard, petty words wouldn't be able to stop the Uchiha from taking a life. Why did Sasuke have to chose Naruto as his victim? Couldn't he kill _her_ instead? She wondered just _why __**she**_ was still alive when the rest were not. Sasuke had many chances to kill her- but yet there she was, breathing and watching the scene in silence.

Sakura stared in horror as Sasuke slowly pulled out his sword. _Slowly._ Sakura panicked. She _needed_ to do something to save Naruto!

_Why did it have to be us? _She thought bitterly, _Why did _it_ have to be us to get stuck with this fate? _They didn't deserve this- they didn't deserve this tumult after what they've been through.

In her world, her version of the future, there was no war. There was no destruction of Konoha, no Sasuke being an Otogake and attacking us. Instead, there was a Naruto being Hokage, and being married to Hinata. There was a Sasuke as an ANBU captain, respected by the village, and the rest of Rookie 9 and Team Gai as ANBU. And there was _herself_, the head medic- _Uchiha Sakura_.

And they deserved that- she and everyone else. After their imperfect childhood, after their hard work, _they damn right deserved a perfect future._ But then again, reality is cruel.

Sakura's hand shook as she saw Chidori surround Sasuke and his sword.

_No, no, no, no_, she thought as she tried to figure out a way to prevent Naruto from dying, now desperate. _Damn, move, body, move!_ her mind screamed, but her body remained defunct.

"Guess this is the end…Naruto," and with that simple statement, Sasuke started charging.

Naruto shut his eyes hard, waiting for the impact to hit him. _Goodbye, Sakura-chan…_

_NOOO!!!!!!!!!_

_**PUK.**_

_**SPLASH.**_

A loud, penetrating sound echoed in the empty clearing, as a sound similar to liquid falling followed.

Sasuke had succeeded. He had just taken the life of his old teammate.

But Sakura had also succeeded. She had saved Naruto.

Naruto was confused when the pain never came. Then he felt a warm liquid splash onto his face, and cracked open an eye. He froze in horror at the terrible sight. Right in front of him, was Sakura standing limply, head down, with the sword that should have pierced _him_ sticking out of her back.

Sasuke was stunned. The sword was through the wrong person. _What? No…This shouldn't…It was…Why?_ He quickly withdrew the weapon and jumped back.

Without the object holding her up, Sakura's body slumped down and Naruto forced his body up to catch her. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily. A trail of red was visible next to her lips. Her clothes were ripped and tattered, and they were covered in strikingly red substance

"Sa…Sakura-chan," Naruto stuttered out. As tears rolled down his cheeks, they mixed with bits of blood, and the rosy colored liquid fell on Sakura's cheek.

"Naruto…" she said, barely audible. Not having enough energy to smile, the edges of her lips curled up a bit.

"I'm glad…that…I saved you…" she coughed up more blood.

"Sakura-chan…not you…" Naruto choked out between his sobs as he held Sakura's head tightly against his chest.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was observing the scene a couple of feet away. He stared down at his hands and at his sword. They were red. Covered in blood. _Her blood._

_Dammit, Sakura,_ he thought, _you weren't suppose to get stabbed! Why? Why go so far for the dobe?_ Instantly Sasuke felt jealous- _Naruto_ was the one Sakura gave up her life for, and _Naruto_ was the one currently holding her- when _he_ had hurt her. Unintentionally.

"Sakura…" Sasuke started, and then took a deep breath to prevent stuttering. "Why? Why protect the dobe?"

A moment of silence passed. Only whispers of sharp breezes sweeping throughout the desolate forest were heard. Sakura slowly turned her head in Naruto's arms to face Sasuke.

"Because, Sasuke-kun…" she said, "because he is precious to me…"

Sasuke's world went blank as he felt the words punctured precisely through him._ He is precious to me...he is precious to me..._ The phrase echoed in his ears. He did not move, he did not reply. He didn't dare to- he himself did now know what might happen if he let his control slip now.

"You two are both precious to me…" Sakura continued with difficulty, "and it was for the best…me dying is better then Sasuke killing Naruto…you two had a stronger bond, ne?"

Sasuke was enraged at that statement. _Liar, _he thought. They all had different, but all the same strong relationships with each other, the three of them. His and Naruto's "bond"- it was only possible with Sakura linking them together. She was the most important out of the three- and she knew it well.

"No…that's not true, Sakura-chan…" Naruto sobbed harder.

Once again, Sakura's lips went upward into a smile.

"I hope…we…meet again…in the future…" she coughed up more blood.

"You can't die, Sakura-chan, I won't let you," Naruto said confidently.

"It's okay…I was meant to die…Sasuke-kun, I forgive you…I…love you both…" and with a final cough, her breathing ceased and her arms fell helplessly to the side.

Naruto gently set Sakura's body on the ground and proceeded to stand up, limping.

_Shit no, you weren't supposed to die, Sakura! _Sasuke thought, not taking in the fact that the pink haired Kunoichi had left them-_ because of him._ _What the hell do you mean you "forgive" me?! I killed you!_ Guilt and regret took him over, but pride held him back from running over and holding her broken form.

_WHIZZ_

A kunai flew past, just missing his face. It left a slight cut on his left cheek, though, interrupting Sasuke's silent mourning.

He merely tilted his chin up higher to catch the sight of Naruto's slumped form. Naruto's eyes were blazing ruby and dangerous scarlet chakra surrounded him as tails whipped about wildly.

"I…won't…forgive YOU!!!" Naruto growled out at Sasuke.

Red chakra started gathering at his right hand, morphing into a sphere.

_Ah,_ Sasuke thought. He knew this jutsu too well- so Naruto was planning to end this. _Then I'll do him the same favor, _Sasuke thought as he gripped his right wrist instantly and started gathering chakra there as well.

Within seconds, the Rasengan was complete, and Naruto started dashing towards Sasuke, his speed accelerating by the second.

"I'LL KILL YOU FOR SAKURA-CHAN!!!"

Sasuke started dashing towards Naruto as well, his face still impassive.

"HYAAA!!!!!!"

"HYAAA!!"

_**CHIING**_

Black clashed with red.

The bleak field was filled with immense amount of chakra- blue and white flashed and illuminated every corner of the field. Silence followed.

The opaque smoke created by the attacks started to clear. The two boys stared at each other; brilliant blue bore into deep onyx. Naruto's lips quirked into a slight grin as Sasuke smirked a bit, their bodies covered in each other's blood. They didn't need to look down to know what the damage was- _they had pierced each other's abdomen_.

Naruto's weary grin grew bigger.

"Teme…you knew it was coming, didn't you? Why didn't you dodge it?"

"Hn. Not your problem…dobe."

Naruto's lids slowly started to drop. He gave a slight, barely audible chuckle.

"Guess Sakura-chan's death wasn't worthless…it brought you back…to your…senses," Naruto finished.

"Hn," Sasuke only grunted

Naruto's knees gave in and fell to the side, taking Sasuke down with him.

His shining blue orbs dulled out and closed, never to be open again. _Or at least not in this world._ But before he did so, he was lucky enough to catch the sight of Sasuke slightly smiling.

_The result…wasn't the worst, after all…_

The murderous aura that surrounded the area turned into a mollifying one, and a gentle zephyr blew, taking away the uneasiness with it.

* * *

And that was it, the end of their tale- _or at least that was what they thought._ They had the capability, the potential to finally have their happy ending- it was just that wrong choices were made. But no matter, for those with possibilities and undeserved outcomes always get a second chance. 

For them, though, their story will be perpetual; third, fourth, fifth , and as many chances as necessary will be given to them to set things straight. Their tales will vary from one world to another for years to come; until their years of pain finally pays off, until they finally find their truly deserved happily ever after.

* * *

**A/N**:...sorry for the lame ending...my mind slipped the last minute, and sorry if the story wasn't the usual humor you guys expected...I just HAD to get this out of my mind. 

-I would like to add that **neon-kun** had taken the liberty to revise and edit the story- so dunno if you guys can tell or not, but I fixed a lot of grammer and spelling mistakes!!! Thanks, neon-kun!

-**SEQUEL UP!!!** It's called **Out of this World**; it's going to be a SasuSaku one-shot collection, with them reincarnated and in a different world with their previous memories- the first chapter is up.

If you didn't like the story, too bad, don't flame- it's not worth your time typing nor worth my time reading.

If you DID like the story (amazingly), don't feel shy, and click that li'l gray button that says "review"!! or you can feel free to go check out my other stories.

Hope you all had an AWESOME Halloween, with lotsa CANDY!! -grabs a snicker out of the pumpkin basket, and starts munching on it-

-REVIEW or I'll send OROCHI-gay-MARU IN A MAID SUITE AFTER YOU!!! (I mean, it _was _Halloween, but he's gonna scar you for life then rape you!!!! (especially if you're a guy!!)-runs away frantically with eyes covered...lol, j/k j/k)


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